


stay with me

by jyunos



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: A cat - Freeform, Cat, Fluff, M/M, Petty Arguments, Rated for cursing, did i also mention that there is a cat involved???, there's a goddamn cat in here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 06:44:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17259494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jyunos/pseuds/jyunos
Summary: Stupid Jaehyun and his stupid rules of not letting him feed strays. What does he know? He’s just an anti. So what if nine more cats appear in the balcony? Taeyong definitely did not mind that.





	stay with me

Taeyong has a soft spot for animals, especially strays. Jaehyun should know this more than anyone considering that he  _ is _ Taeyong’s boyfriend and they moved into an apartment together the moment they got out of university. He pretty much knows Taeyong more than any of their friends. 

 

It shouldn’t be a shock when Taeyong ends up buying more cans of tuna than they ever need. 

 

Jaehyun hadn’t realised there was a stray cat that keeps coming to their balcony until he spots a curled up ball of white fur in the corner, sleeping while he was cleaning the balcony. He had no idea how the cat managed to go to the second level but he was more concerned on how there was a blanket conveniently under the cat as if  _ someone  _ put it there just for the little feline. 

 

It was Taeyong. Jaehyun didn’t need to ask. He knows it’s Taeyong. Other than Lucas who had crashed at their place for a week and had left, there was only Taeyong and him in the house. 

 

Today is no exception. He caught Taeyong red-handed walking to the balcony suspiciously while holding a can of tuna and a paper plate. Jaehyun stays in the shadows, watching his boyfriend feed the feline in the corner, happily whispering to the cat as if it understands whatever Taeyong is saying. Taeyong stands up after giving the cat the tuna and Jaehyun steps out of his hiding place, a frown on his face. When Taeyong realises that he was caught, he just smiles at his boyfriend sheepishly as if he had done nothing wrong. 

 

“Hi, baby,” Taeyong smiles awkwardly, hiding the empty can of tuna behind him. “Do you need something?” 

 

Jaehyun just remains silent, looking at Taeyong with crossed arms and a raised brow. 

 

“I couldn’t help it,” Taeyong says finally, looking down shamefully. “It could’ve been starving until he came here for all we know. And I’m sorry for not telling you?”

 

“It’s a stray,” Jaehyun says flatly. “We don’t know where it came from and if it’s sick or not. And you know we can’t feed strays carelessly, babe.” 

 

Now, it was Taeyong’s turn to cross his arms and frown at Jaehyun. “Yes, I know,” he argues, his voice sharp. “But that doesn’t mean I will let that little baby  _ starve  _ and  _ freeze _ to death!” 

 

“I'm sure it’s fine. If he can live through kitten years to adulthood on the streets, it wouldn’t die easily,” Jaehyun counters, rolling his eyes in the process. “What are you gonna do if  _ that thing  _ brings its gang and suddenly the balcony is filled with ten cats. All because  _ you  _ decided to feed it.” 

 

Taeyong scowls, “Just so you know, I wouldn’t mind feeding  _ ten cats _ . And don’t you dare call him  _ that thing _ . And just for your information, Nilla doesn’t stay in the balcony. He leaves after he eats or nap.” 

 

“Nilla?” Jaehyun snaps. “You  _ named _ the cat?” 

 

“Sue me!” 

  
  


/ᐠ｡‸｡ᐟ\

  
  


Usually, when the couple argues, they wouldn’t last a night or two until they decide that they can’t live a day without cuddling to sleep. However this time, it has almost been a week and neither Jaehyun nor Taeyong bothers to apologise to the other for starting the argument. 

 

During the week, Taeyong successfully kicked Jaehyun out of their (currently his) bedroom, causing the latter to move into their guest room because he obviously does  _ not _ want to sleep on the sofa. 

 

People would generally say that Jaehyun and Taeyong are the most perfect human being - with good looks, good manners and charming personalities. Their friends know better, obviously. Behind that perfect being facade that they have on in public, they are both flawed. Aside from them being overly competitive, they are both awfully stubborn.  _ Too _ stubborn that when they just started becoming friends are were evidently pining on each other, it almost drove their other friends crazy because of how they would deny their feelings and play dumb. 

 

( _ “I don’t like him, Ten!” Jaehyun hisses when Ten keeps pestering him about Taeyong. _

 

_ “Then explain why you’re always looking at him like a lovestruck puppy?”  _

 

_ “Because he’s nice to look at?”  _

 

_ Ten didn’t say anything else and just hits Jaehyun’s head.  _

 

_ “You dumb, stubborn dog.” _

 

Legends have it that Jaehyun is still holding a grudge against Ten for hitting his head to this day.) 

 

Taeyong and Jaehyun haven’t spoken to each other properly throughout the week except exchanging “what do you want to eat today?” or “I’m home” and “welcome back” rather grumpily. The only time Jaehyun is allowed in their bedroom was for him to change clothes. Taeyong had been kind enough to not just throw Jaehyun’s clothes into the guest room where Jaehyun is currently residing in. 

 

Being stubborn as he is, Taeyong continues to feed on the cat that would visit their balcony and sometimes even play with the feline, ignoring the glares from Jaehyun. Even if Jaehyun is in the balcony, just enjoying a cup of coffee on his own and completely ignoring the presence of the cat that is meowing for his attention, Taeyong would do what he has to do, not sparing Jaehyun a glance. 

 

Jaehyun can’t help but feel jealous at times when Taeyong is giving the  _ damned cat  _ more attention than to himself. 

 

“Nilla,” Taeyong coos watching the cat stretch himself on the blanket that Taeyong provided, “my sweet baby Vanilla.”

 

Jaehyun snores at the name, “What a stupid name.” 

 

Taeyong just rolls his eyes, not bothering to look behind him where Jaehyun is definitely staring. 

 

Admittedly, Taeyong enjoys the fact that Jaehyun is showing signs of him being jealous over a little cat. He finds it hilarious and entertaining. On usual days, Taeyong would immediately kiss the hell out of his boyfriend for being jealous of something little. Then again, they’re in the middle of an unnecessarily prolonged argument and he definitely could not do that. 

 

Stupid Jaehyun and his stupid rules of not letting him feed strays. What does he know? He’s just an anti. So what if nine more cats appear in the balcony? Taeyong definitely did not mind that. 

  
  


/ᐠ｡‸｡ᐟ\ 

  
  


Only when it’s the third day of the  _ second  _ week of their dumb argument did Jaehyun give up. He couldn’t stand ignoring and getting ignored by Taeyong. When he goes home from work, he sees Taeyong in the living room, the coffee table pushed to a corner and the sofa pushed to the wall, leaving a wide space in the middle. And in the middle was Taeyong, sitting on the floor with a huge piece of paper in front of him and painting materials scattered around him. 

 

“I’m home,” Jaehyun announces and Taeyong hums in response, too focused in his own work to properly acknowledge his own boyfriend. 

 

Jaehyun takes off his jacket and goes straight into their room to put down his things. He takes a shower and changes into something more comfortable, which is his pyjama pants and a very loose t-shirt. Taeyong is still in the same position he was before Jaehyun went to take a shower, painting diligently. Jaehyun had always loved watching Taeyong paint. For him, it’s relaxing to watch and he loves how focused Taeyong gets when he’s doing his clients’ commissions. 

 

He already knows that Taeyong is not going to be sleeping tonight, too busy painting and chasing after deadlines. Being a freelance illustrator, Taeyong pretty much does not have a fixed sleeping schedule. It all depends on his workload, sometimes he would be so free that he can easily pass as jobless, sometimes he would be so busy that he wouldn’t sleep for three days. He was fortunate enough that he works from home, letting him pass out anywhere and any time he can. He only steps out of the house when he needs to buy things, go out with Jaehyun or meet up with his manager and review things. 

  
  
  
  


Jaehyun didn't realise he was staring at his boyfriend until the latter turns to look at him with big curious eyes. Flustered, Jaehyun shakes his head and looks away. He hears Taeyong giggle slightly before going back to painting. Sirens were going off in Jaehyun’s head -  _ He Giggled!! He’s not very angry anymore!!!  _ \- and he thanked God for this discovery. Jaehyun makes himself comfortable on the sofa and just watches his boyfriend paint again until it’s almost sundown and he realised that neither of them had a meal since Jaehyun came home which was three hours ago. 

 

Hearing his stomach growl, he immediately stands up and makes a beeline towards the kitchen. Cooking rice would take a long time and he couldn’t wait that long so ends up grilling some ham, and toast some bread and also cooked two packets of instant ramen. 

 

“Taeyong,” he calls as he sets the dining table, putting two bowls and two sets of utensils. “Babe, come here and have your meal. Please? I know you haven’t eaten for a longer period of time than me.” 

 

“But I’m not done yet,” Taeyong whines from the living room. 

 

“We both know that you won’t be done until the day after tomorrow or something so please, just take half an hour break and eat up,” Jaehyun begs almost. Fighting or not, he wouldn’t let his boyfriend starve.

 

“At least have some toast and grilled ham?” 

 

“Okay, okay, I’ll eat,” Taeyong sighs. He really didn’t want to leave his work when he knows that he hasn’t reached his progress goal but he also couldn’t ignore the rumbling of his stomach. And he definitely is not going to miss out on his boyfriend’s cooking even if it’s just instant noodles and grilled ham. He stands up and stretches his limbs which had been suffering since he stayed in one position without moving much. 

 

“What drink do you want?” Jaehyun asks, opening the fridge and scanning the drink choices. 

 

“We don’t have many drinks,” Jaehyun mutters to himself, “better go to the supermarket tomorrow.” 

 

“Do we have cola?” Taeyong asks and Jaehyun nods. “Last one.” 

 

Taeyong smiles softly, he knows that Jaehyun likes the drink but he is willing to give the last one to Taeyong instead. 

 

“Thank you,” Taeyong says when Jaehyun passes him a can of coca-cola. Jaehyun himself has a can of Fanta. 

 

“You’re welcome.” 

 

The couple eats in silence, not sure how to open a conversation. Everything seems risky when they are in the middle of an argument. 

 

“Is that a new commission?” Jaehyun asks suddenly as they were finishing the grilled ham, startling Taeyong. 

 

“Huh? Uh, not really. I have been in contact with the client since last week and making drafts and stuff. And I have until next week to finish the end product,” Taeyong explains and Jaehyun frowns. 

 

“Isn’t that too rushing for you? That paper is  _ huge _ .”

 

“Yeah, it was their last minute thing so I charged them more than I usually do and they were understanding, so I can’t really complain.” 

 

“Oh.” 

 

At the back of their mind, there was a mini party going, celebrating the fact that they  _ finally  _ had a proper conversation even if it was about work. 

  
  
  
  


Taeyong resumes painting on the floor while Jaehyun clears the table and washes the dishes. Jaehyun also prepares a cup of tea while he is still in the kitchen and brings it out to Taeyong. 

 

“Here, have some tea,” Jaehyun says and places the cup on Taeyong’s left. “Babe, look at me.” 

 

“Hm?” 

 

“Tea, always on your left, black cup. Paint water, always on your right, white cup. Don’t mix them up and confuse yourself. I don’t want you to drink paint water again,” Jaehyun says pointing at the two cups and Taeyong nods shamefully, embarrassed at the number of times he accidentally drank paint water instead of his tea or coffee.

 

Jaehyun goes into their room and grabs his laptop and comes back out into the living room and lies down on the sofa. Might as well do some work while he keeps an eye on Taeyong. 

  
  
  
  


It was already three in the middle of the night when Taeyong realises that Jaehyun had fallen asleep on the sofa with the laptop in front of him. Taeyong had already achieved his progress goal, he even started on the next goal but it’s already too late into the night and felt like passing out. 

 

He stands up and stretches again, groaning quietly in the process, afraid to wake his boyfriend up who is a light sleeper. He tiptoes over to his boyfriend and takes the laptop away. Taeyong freezes when Jaehyun moves and as soon as Taeyong confirms that Jaehyun is still asleep, he walks away to the coffee table and places Jaehyun’s laptop. 

 

Too consumed by fatigue, he walks over to Jaehyun and rests his body on Jaehyun’s who startles awake. 

 

“It’s three thirty, go back to sleep,” Taeyong whispers, cuddling with Jaehyun, seeking warmth. Jaehyun wraps his arms around Taeyong lazily and repositions them both. 

 

“I miss you,” Jaehyun whispers back in his deep voice laced with sleep. 

 

“I miss you too,” Taeyong places a soft kiss on Jaehyun’s jaw and then rests his head on Jaehyun’s shoulder. “Go to sleep, we’ll talk tomorrow.” 

 

Jaehyun just hums and goes back to sleep immediately, feeling content. After an excruciating week without being with Taeyong physically, he admits, he’d rather not be petty anymore that would lead to even more petty arguments. After thinking about it again, their fight was definitely  _ dumb _ . It all started because Jaehyun is wary of feeding stray cats. (It’s all Johnny’s fault - he was the one who said that “one may become three and then become six of them” if someone feeds a stray cat carelessly.) 

  
  


/ᐠ｡‸｡ᐟ\

  
  


Jaehyun ends up being late for work. Why? He woke up to Taeyong peppering kisses on his face and then they just spend a few minutes (an hour) cuddling and enjoying each other’s embrace. Other than the fact that they woke up on the sofa, they pretty much enjoyed their morning. They also managed to talk and apologise to each other before Taeyong noticed a familiar white feline coming onto their balcony which made Jaehyun roll his eyes and  _ only then _ he realised that he is very late for work. 

 

“Should I call in sick?” Jaehyun asks, watching Taeyong skipping happily to the cat with tuna. 

 

“No,” Taeyong says. “Just go to work. And your boss doesn’t really care what time you’re in the office or what you do as long as you do your job, so just go to work, show him your face and you’ll be fine.” 

 

“But I don’t wanna,” Jaehyun whines, earning a glare from Taeyong. As if on cue, his phone rings from their room and Jaehyun scurries inside to answer it. 

 

Taeyong runs after Jaehyun, stealing the phone away. “Hi, Taeil. Good morning. Don’t worry about Jaehyun, he just woke up late because he was accompanying me while I was working until late at night. He’ll get ready soon and leave the house.” 

 

Jaehyun frowns at his boyfriend. 

 

“Huh?” Taeyong gasps confusedly and Jaehyun smiles triumphantly. “You’re giving him a day off? Oh, sure. I’ll make sure he does his work. Thank you, Taeil. Bye.”

 

“And what did he say?” Jaehyun asks, his playful tone is back. Taeyong returns the phone, sighing deeply. 

 

“He said it’s your off day, but you still have to finish your editing and submit to him on time,” Taeyong frowns. “And then you can enjoy the rest of the day with no work interruptions.” 

 

“Thank you,” Jaehyun grins. “What? You don’t like me being at home?”

 

“Hm, not really,” Taeyong replies, jokingly. “I have a lot of things to cover today so don’t disturb me, please?” 

 

“Of course,” Jaehyun says, placing a soft kiss on his boyfriend’s forehead. “But when it’s time to eat and whatnot, you  _ have to _ listen to me, deal?”

 

“Deal.”

 

Jaehyun nods and leaves the bedroom, trailing to the kitchen. 

 

“Baby, we are running out of food so you need to go to the supermarket later,” Taeyong adds, following Jaehyun. 

 

“Yeah, I realised yesterday.” 

 

“Oh!” Jaehyun looks at Taeyong and immediately regrets when he sees Taeyong looking at him with his big puppy eyes. “Can you also please get some cat food? Pretty please? It could be just biscuits or the canned wet food. If you don’t want to then just buy some canned tuna. Please?” 

 

Jaehyun just sighs. “The things I would do for you, babe.” 

 

Taeyong squeals in delight and hugs his boyfriend rather quickly before disappearing into the bathroom, probably to take a quick shower or just freshen up. Jaehyun sees the cat again sitting on the provided blanket and glares at the innocent feline who is getting ready to nap.

  
  


/ᐠ｡‸｡ᐟ\

  
  


Eventually, Jaehyun also began warming up to the white feline which Taeyong calls Vanilla. When Taeyong is busy painting or dealing with his clients, Jaehyun would be the one feeding Vanilla. He was reluctant at first, and the glaring parade didn’t just end after one day, but the feline still managed to melt his walls. 

 

Jaehyun would still deny that he has indeed gone soft for the white feline, though. 

 

When Taeyong found Jaehyun sitting cross-legged on the balcony floor with his laptop on his lap and Vanilla just beside Jaehyun’s thigh all curled up, he was pleasantly shocked. 

 

“Don’t say a fucking word,” Jaehyun glares when he sees Taeyong’s shit eating grin as he approaches them. “Go away, I’m busy.”

 

“Baby, can we keep him?” Taeyong asks, clinging to Jaehyun’s arm. 

 

Jaehyun pauses. “ _ What. _ ” 

 

“Please?” 

 

“But-” 

 

“Please? He literally lives with us already, just on the balcony. Please, Jaehyun,  _ please. _ I want him,” Taeyong begs, tugging on Jaehyun’s arm childishly. 

 

“I’ll think about it.” Jaehyun simply answers begrudgingly. The white cat had also woken up from its nap and found his way to Taeyong’s lap, kneading his thigh while purring loudly, making Taeyong giggle happily. Jaehyun remains sitting, annoyed at the fact that the cat literally  _ walked on _ his laptop just to get to Taeyong, pressing random keys in the process and disrupting Jaehyun’s work. 

 

“Can we keep him?” Taeyong asks again and Jaehyun pretends that he didn’t hear him.    
  


  
  
  


_ What Taeyong wants, Taeyong gets _ . 

 

Jaehyun went home from work one day and found Taeyong in their kitchen with the usual white cat - Taeyong cooking for dinner while the feline enjoys his tuna on the kitchen island. When Taeyong finally notices Jaehyun’s presence, he just smiles warmly and went back to cooking as if there is no cat sitting on the island. 

 

“Taeyong,” Jaehyun starts, “Why is Vanilla sitting inside?”

 

“He’s staying with us,” Taeyong chirps. “It’s final.” 

 

Jaehyun didn’t say anything else. Maybe it’s better to just take him in rather than suddenly having ten stray cats to feed. He had to remind himself again,  _ whatever Taeyong wants, Taeyong will get it _ . 

 

“Don’t let him get used to eating on the kitchen island,” Jaehyun sighs, walking into their bedroom. 

 

“I know!” He hears Taeyong shout. At least Taeyong is happy. 

  
  
  
  


Jaehyun was about to fall asleep when Taeyong jumps on him, hugging him tightly. “Thank you for letting Vanilla stay even though you’re kinda against it.” 

 

“I thought about it, I really don’t want to have ten cats sitting on our balcony begging for food,” Jaehyun says, lightly joking. “Besides, you’re happy with him around and he likes you. And like you said, he literally lives with us already, it’s just a matter of time before he invites himself into the house.” 

 

Taeyong chuckles. 

 

“Oh, where is he sleeping?” Jaehyun suddenly asks. 

 

“In the guest room. He’s not really clean yet and I don’t want unwanted germs into my sleeping area,” Taeyong answers as he rolls over to Jaehyun’s side and gets under the cover with Jaehyun. “Oh, are you free tomorrow?” Jaehyun hums and lets Taeyong continue. “Follow me to the pet shop? We need  _ a lot _ of stuff for our new baby.” 

 

“Mm, okay,” Jaehyun yawns. “Goodnight, babe.” 

 

“Goodnight, baby. Sweet dreams.” 

  
  


/ᐠ｡‸｡ᐟ\

  
  


Living with Vanilla had been an experience. The couple learnt that Vanilla can be  _ very clingy  _ and  _ affectionate _ which would make them distracted from their work. They also learnt that the feline loves playing with dirty socks and clothes which annoys Taeyong so much but Jaehyun encourages the feline by throwing his worn clothes at him before going to take a shower. 

 

Unsurprisingly, Jaehyun is also affected by Vanilla’s charms and now they are overly attached. Taeyong wonders who out of the two were the one that was so strongly against adopting the feline in the first place. 

 

Taeyong prepared a cat bed for Vanilla at the corner of their room but the cat prefers to sleep in their laundry basket instead, sometimes on their dressing table instead, and sometimes in the empty space of Jaehyun’s bookshelf. Sometimes, the cat would also just settle himself comfortably between Taeyong and Jaehyun. 

 

The first time it happened, Taeyong was going to move Vanilla from their bed, afraid that Jaehyun would accidentally slam his body on the poor cat or when he realises that there was a cat in between them, he would push the cat off the bed and unintentionally hurt the poor feline. However, he was pleasantly surprised when he saw Jaehyun opening his eyes to see the intruder of the space between them only to close it back and pulls Taeyong closer to him, resting his arm on Taeyong’s waist despite the fact that Vanilla is literally between their chests. 

 

Taeyong smiles and goes to sleep, content at his current family - his loving boyfriend and lovable cat, all cuddled together at night and happily sleeping. 

  
  


/ᐠ｡‸｡ᐟ\

  
  


“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!” Jaehyun screams and Taeyong immediately runs out of their bedroom to see the commotion.  

 

“Oh no,” Taeyong muttered under his breath. 

 

From where they’re standing, they could see a black cat sitting on Vanilla’s makeshift bed when he was still a stray, licking itself. Jaehyun glares at Taeyong who just gasps, offended at the silent accusation. 

 

“It wasn’t me,” Taeyong says, defending himself, “I stopped seeing any strays after we adopted Vanilla into our home a few months ago!” 

 

Jaehyun groans, dragging himself to the bedroom. 

 

“Get  _ that thing  _ off our balcony,” Jaehyun growls, slamming the door shut. 

 

Taeyong sighs, wondering how the hell did the black cat find its way to their balcony that was once occupied by Vanilla. Speaking of the devil, he hears Vanilla meowing from the kitchen, asking to be fed. 

 

“Maybe I should call Jeno to pick up the stray,” Taeyong mutters to himself. 

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked this! leave a kudos and comment maybe hehe
> 
> twt: @t7scvlt


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